Entrepreneurial Intentions: The Role of Gender and Culture in Entrepreneurial Education

Grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), this study examines how perceived educational support influences entrepreneurial intentions among university students in India and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), through the mediating effects of entrepreneurial attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. It further explores how gender and cultural context moderate these relationships, extending the TPB into cross-cultural and gendered domains. Using survey data from 734 undergraduate students, structural equation modeling was employed to test the proposed model. The results reveal that perceived educational support significantly enhances entrepreneurial attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control in both contexts, although the magnitude and pathways differ across gender and country. Entrepreneurial attitude and perceived behavioral control emerge as consistent predictors of entrepreneurial intention, while subjective norms exert a greater influence for Indian women. These results highlight that entrepreneurial intentions are culturally and gender-contingent, challenging TPB’s universal applicability. The study advances TPB-based entrepreneurship research by embedding perceived educational support within a contextualized, gender-sensitive framework, contributing to a deeper understanding of entrepreneurship education in Asia. These insights can guide universities and policymakers in designing entrepreneurship education that fosters inclusive innovation across diverse cultural contexts.